union failed to reach a last-ditch agreement. is there still hope for your sweet treats? >> it is wednesday, november 21st. and "starting point" begins right now. >> and welcome back, much. we start with breaking news in libya. first the temporary security director of benghazi is now reported assassinated. investigators there say three gunmen drove up in a civilian vehicle outside the home of colonel farage al dursi. shot him several times. we're going to bring you more information on this story as we get it. we're also following breaking news just awhile ago, more carnage in the battle between israel and gaza. a bomb exploded on a bus in tel aviv. injured at least ten people. happened right in front of israel's national defense headquarters. a spokesman for the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says this is a terrorist act. this as 100 israeli air strikes have killed more than 27

palestinians. the death toll in eight days there up to 137. the secretary of state hillary clinton is finishing up those direct talks this morning with the palestinian authority president mahmoud abbas. that's happening in ramallah on the west bank. and netanyahu, the prime minister, in jerusalem, another conversation she's having. now she goes to cairo where she's meeting with the egyptian president mursi. mrs. clinton making it clear that she is not interested in a quick fix in gaza. >> the goal must be a durable outcome that promotes regional stability, and advances the security and legitimate aspirations of israelis and palestinians alike. >> cnn reporters flanking the middle east today to bring you the most comprehensive coverage of the crisis in gaza and in jerusalem and in israel. ben wedeman is in gaza city. frederick pleitgen is in ashkelon city. we begin with sara sidner at the scene of that bus explosion that happened just a little while ago

in tel aviv. sara first of all describe for me how that looks right now. >> what has happened right now is the cleanup is under way. there are still tape up around the scene. we're very close to the defense department building, and the military headquarters, this is a bus that the number 61 bus, we know that it exploded, glass all around the bus was blown out. however the blast was not strong enough to knock out the ability for the bus to operate. and so we saw literally the bus -- someone in the bus drive the bus away, 15, 20 minutes ago. we know that there are several people injured. they were taken to a hospital. that is very, very nearby where this bus exploded. right now, police are telling us that they are still looking for potential suspects, we see a helicopter in the sky. there's been a lot of confusion, a lot of rumors, as to who may have done this. even rumors about an arrest.

there was apparently an arrest made but they're not saying whether that arrest has anything to do with this particular incident. but police said we did not have any indication that there was going to happen in tel aviv. they're always on alert for looking for potential suspects. so far the city after the blast has been quiet. the police are combing the area, looking for who might be responsible. now, as far as whether or not this was a suicide bomber, or a package left, we have confirmed that they do believe it was a package, some sort of a device or package left on the bus. just don't know how it got on. if someone got on the bus and left it or whether it was sitting there for some time. they're still trying to find out those details. there are people hurt. three of them who are hurt moderately. we talked to a witness on the scene who said that there are

people screaming and crying, and there was a couple of women that had blood all over them. >> sara, a couple of things, seeing reports that two people who were talking on israeli radio said that they witnessed the attack and they saw a man throw a bag onto the bus, and then run. are you able to confirm that at this time from the folks that you're talking to? >> no. the police are saying look they're still looking into it. they really don't know if it was thrown onto the bus or whether it was sitting on the bus already. they are trying to figure out just exactly how this happened, and exactly who is behind this. in talking to people here in tel aviv who have unfortunately been through these blasts before, especially in the '90s when some of these blasts went off quite often in places like cafes and buses, this blast was not as strong as the ones that were seen back then. this looked like a smaller blast, which did not completely destroy the bus, for example. it did not kill people immediately, for example. this is a smaller kind of a

blast. so they're really trying to figure out who might be behind this, if it has anything to do with the conflict going on right now between hamas and some of the militants in gaza and israel. but the investigation is under way and they're watching right now the police tape still very tightly wound around the scene. and the sweepers are actually out trying to get rid of all the glass that was blasted out of this bus. >> we know hamas has praised the attack but is not at this point claiming responsibility for this attack. sara sidner in tel aviv. where that bus explosion has taken place. appreciate it. let's get right to the gaza israel border. fred pleitgen is reporting for us live from ashkelon in israel. what's the latest where you are? >> hi, soledad. what's going on here is that throughout the course of the day we've had a lot of rocket attacks going on here in the ashkelon area. there were six instances where our crew had to go into a hardened shelter because there were rockets flying overhead. i can show you right behind me,

there's some rockets right here that have been raining down on the ashkelon area in the past couple of days. most of these are kasem rockets collected by explosive ordnance disposal crews which are doing their work 24 hours a day. needless to say that because all this is going on in ashkelon a lot of the people we're talking to are not really thrilled about the prospect of this conflict coming to an end very soon. we asked them about what they would think about a possible cease-fire. they say at this point they don't believe that their military has gotten the job done yet they were sent out to do. they believe if the military stops now they might have to deal with something like this again maybe in the next couple of months, maybe in the next couple of years. but certainly they say they don't want to continue living in a situation where rockets are raining down on their heads. doesn't just happen during the conflict. it happens in the best of times, soledad. >> frederick pleitgen. other stories making news, brooke baldwin is in for john berman. that's going to happen in just a few moments. first we want to recap our

breaking news stories. first out of libya we know from the state news agency there that the gunman, an unknown, unidentified at this point gunman has assassinated colonel faraj al dursi the temporary security director for benghazi. that happened on tuesday night according to security officials there shot dead by three unidentified gunman who were in a civilian car. he was outside of his home when he was assassinated there and then of course we're continuing to follow this bus explosion story happening in tel aviv. but exploded around noon. israel time, of course, as it passed by the army headquarters there, as we mentioned hamas is praising the attack has not yet claimed responsibility not claiming responsibility at least at this point and there have been some reports from a couple of eyewitnesses we heard on israeli radio who said they saw somebody throw a bag onto that bus but as sara sidner reported for us she said police have not confirmed that yet exactly what kind of an explosive device was used and how exactly it made its way on the bus. we're continuing to monitor

those breaking news stories for you. want to get to some of the other stories that are making news. hi, brooke. >> good morning. let's talk about what's happening here at home. this is the day to get away. millions of americans are hitting the road, the rails, packing in airports en route to your thanksgiving destination. here's what we're hearing from aaa here. they estimate more than 43 million people will be traveling at least 50 miles or more this long holiday weekend. so let's check in at one of those airports. ted rowland is live at busy, busy chicago o'hare. how busy is it? >> well, good morning, brooke. not too bad so far. there aren't a lot of early morning flights here. we have seen some departures already. the big problem, though, is the fog. you can see it out in the distans here. it was white knuckling driving here this morning to the airport. the whole midwest is really covered with fog. that is possibly going to be a major problem today. what looked like a great weather

day may be hampered by this fog. i was just talking to a pilot. he says the real issue isn't those initial flights because the planes were all here overnight. they're able to take off. it's going to be coming up in the next few hours, when the sun rises, visibility will drop because of this fog and it's not just chicago, it's milwaukee, st. louis, and other midwestern cities, what they expect is there will be some delays and of course, chicago is a major hub, specifically o'hare, and the delays here happen it will have a ripple effect across the country. as they say every time, every day, this is -- this time of year, bring your patience with you to the airport no matter where you are because there could be some delays. right now so far so good in chicago. >> it is so calm and quiet there. what a rarity so far. ted rowlands, thank you for us this morning in chicago. also this morning, defense secretary leon panetta spelling out the future against al qaeda, while speaking about the september 11th attacks at a washington-based think tank. he praised what's being done but he says there's still a lot of work left to do.

>> we know we're going to be smaller. we're going to be leaner. it's a reality of coming out of these wars. but we have to be agile. we have to be deployable. we have to be flexible. and we have to be on the cutting edge of technology. >> panetta also talked about investing in cyberspace, unmanned systems for the future. also, former boxing champ hector macho camacho is recovering this morning, after being shot in his face in his native puerto rico. police say camacho and another man were just sitting in a car when someone opened fire. the second man was killed. the bullet caused damage to two vertebrae in camacho's neck. he is in serious condition but expected to survive. a near-riot caught on camera at a city council meeting in newark, new jersey last night. take a look. listen to this. people there storming the stage after mayor cory booker cast the deciding vote to fill a vacant council seat. police had to use pepper spray

to sort of palm the crowd. police arrested at least one man. that's it so far. >> that doesn't even compare to some of the city council -- >> that was nothing? >> remember the ones we've seen, sometimes i think they come to us from south korea, where you see people throwing chairs. parliamentary fights we've seen. >> you're saying that was nothing? >> that was like, come on man. i thought the run-up we're going to see real craziness. >> christine romans has a look at the business report for us. >> good morning. stock futures are trading flat right now. fighting in the middle east helping to fuel volatility in stocks and also oil markets. of course the fear is, the fear is if this were to expand in the region that could disrupt oil supplies. it's really a psychological factor. the price for light, sweet crude up this morning. the hostess story is looking more like hostess will shut down after mediation talks with union workers failed yesterday. the bankruptcy court hearing scheduled for later today that could determine the future of

this company. you know at risk are more than 18,000 jobs. the company then could sell its iconic brand and its recipes to pay off creditors. wonder bread, ho hoes, ding dongs and twinkies are all hostess brands. it would close 33 bakeries, 565 distribution centers, 5500 delivery routes, and 570 bakery stores throughout the u.s. this is a story, you know, people make light of it, you're going to get your twinkies. this is a story about people and their jobs. 18,000 people. for some of those towns where the hostess factory for the wonder bread factory and bakery are really an important part of the economy. so we wish everybody the best. >> hopeful they'll be able -- the people want their jobs. this looks like the people who own the company really wanted to continue to make this iconic brand. >> if investors could buy it maybe they could keep some of those factories running. some of those factories quite frankly are pretty old and inefficient. so we'll see. >> christine, thank you for the update. still ahead we continue to follow the breaking news out of

tel aviv the bomb blast on that bus this morning. ruin any chances for a de-escalation which is what they've been talking about. we're going to be chatting with the ambassador stuart holliday ahead. then the republican tradition the iowa straw poll. why is the state's governor saying, eh, kind of useless. talk about that straight ahead. oh no, not a migraine now. try this... bayer? this isn't just a headache. trust me, this is new bayer migraine. [ male announcer ] it's the power of aspirin plus more in a triple action formula to relieve your tough migraines. new bayer migraine formula.

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good morning. welcome back, everybody. we're following breaking news out of israel this morning. a bomb explosion on a bus in tel aviv has injured at least ten people. the bus was passing army headquarters. hamas is not claiming responsibility at this point. has praised the attack, though. this as secretary of state hillary clinton is in the region. she's been attempting to broker some peace, or at least de-escalation. joining us this morning is stuart holliday, the president

and ceo of the meridian international center, which is a public diplomacy organization that works with the state department. he is formerly the u.s. ambassador for special political affairs to the united nations. it's nice to have you with us, sir. >> good morning, soledad. >> so yesterday we were reporting at this hour that there were reports that the aggression would stop within hours. then there reports that there would be a 24-hour calm period, that came from a senior hamas official. then we know that hillary clinton was in the region, going from meeting to meeting with netanyahu, and heading eventually to meet with mohamed mursi. now we have this violence with a bus. has the window of opportunity, which it seemed like the secretary was trying to exploit, or leverage, has that closed, do you think, with this explosion? >> first of all, this was a reprehensible terrorist attack. but i don't think it closes the window. you've got these very serious talks ongoing about a long-term solution to things like, you know, border security, the rocket attacks, and a lot of

international pressure brought to bear by both arab countries, the united states, and the u.n. so, no, i think that this represents an escalation, but i don't think it closes the window to getting some sort of agreement. the real issue will be what happens the day after a cease-fire. whether it can be enforced. and i think we're continually reminded about how hard it is to actually keep these various more radical factions from destabilizing the process. >> so if you're calling it an escalation and we know hillary clinton, one of the words that she keeps reiterating is the word de-escalation, which is pretty significant. she's not calling for a cease-fire, not calling for people to put their weapons down, she's saying de-escalation. here's what she said after her first meeting with benjamin netanyahu. >> president obama asked me to come to israel with a very clear message. america's commitment to israel's security is rock solid, and unwavering. that is why we believe it is

essential to de-escalate the situation in gaza. >> so in your estimation what is specifically de-escalation? >> well, de-escalation is creating time and space, again, to get the civilian populations on both sides to feel, again, some sort of confidence that there could be a secure environment, in the short term, while these political talks go on. >> no rockets, they have to stop firing rockets, no bombs on buses? >> absolutely. and of course, originally, before this bomb on the bus, which, again, has been, you know, tactic that's been used in the past but hasn't really been seen for awhile we were really talking about these rocket attacks and the escalation of a more sophisticated rockets, which israel views as a real threat to the civilian population. >> so then, how do you get to the rocket stopping and the bombs stopping when you, you hear from, for example, a hamas spokesperson who was talking to

wolf blitzer, here's what he told wolf. listen. >> we have this can happen although it is bombing at this time exactly, and let me say we are also for diplomatic to make an end for this crisis but we are also prepared to do what we are supposed to do in order to protect our people and the future of -- >> he's saying listen we're open to anything but on the other hand, we're going to we're going to strike if we feel like we need to strike which is not exactly a first step toward anybody on either side putting down their weapons. we've heard similar things on the israeli side as you know. who stops firing first? >> well i mean the israelis are not going to stop defending their civilian population. the issue would be whether the, the arabs and president mursi in egypt can appoint some sort of horizon for the people of gaza that would allow them to kind of climb down, this is about

humanitarian quarters. the people -- government and hamas government in gaza is feeling a little bit more emboldened because of these sort of these visits by these high level delegations from places like qatar and turkey and of course egypt. so, this is about pointing the queue to a future where there's a political process in place, and i think secretary clinton's going to be looking very hard at how do you talk about what happens after this? because the only way people are going to stop, again, if they can stop, there are a lot of people in gaza with rockets and there's going to have to be a real concerted effort to, you know, weed those out, but also to create a political horizon. >> ambassador stuart holliday joining us this morning. thank you, sir, appreciate your time. >> thank you very much. >> ahead on "starting point" this morning, it's considered a key indicator for the republican party but iowa's governor think it's kind of a relic. is the state's straw poll even relevant? we'll take a look at that straight ahead.t go see.

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welcome back, everybody. our team this morning. we start with will cain, the columnist for theblaze.com. dana bash is with us, senior congressional correspondent. richard socarides, senior adviser to president clinton, writer for newyorker.com. nice to have you all with us. brooke baldwin sticks around. she's helping us with the news this morning. christine romans helping us with business. let's talk about the iowa straw poll. heated debate among republicans, not just republicans in iowa, really everybody. terry branstad, governor there, says the end may be near for the straw poll. he thinks it should be near for the straw poll. the poll which happens in late august is an early test of

viability for presidential campaigns. branstad says the poll discourages top tier candidates from attending, threatens their participation in the iowa caucuses. >> let's illustrate exactly what you're talking about, right? tim pawlenty performed very poorly in the iowa straw poll, dropped out and many said months later might have been a real challenger to mitt romney. and who won the iowa straw poll? >> michele bachmann won. >> dropped out not long after that. >> she's an iowa native though so she had an edge this time around. >> exactly. >> it was a contest -- >> iowa straw poll is great. >> why? >> i work for senator tom harkin from iowa and democrats in iowa love the straw poll. it's a good burst of energy in iowa. iowa is a great political town. >> give me a good reason. >> gives everybody an early look at what's out there and gives us something to talk about. it gives political reporters something to report on. >> every single -- >> it's a very positive thing. >> initially, of course, it was

all about the idea of the straw poll was it was an early indicator of how much organizational strength you have. right? but i do feel like today, in today's day and age, not so much. it really -- >> why is it no longer an indicator? >> look at michele bachmann. perfect example. she did very well at the beginning and she got people in and then she dropped out the day after the iowa caucuses because she simply couldn't hack it. i mean she couldn't even get people to the caucuses. so i think that that's -- i think it's so early in the process that it's more of a popularity contest/beauty contest than an actual organizational contest. >> let me ask you a question, i would imagine, you know, why is branstad sort of saying this. i have to imagine the straw poll brings money, brings reporters, brings hotel rooms that are booked and restaurants that are filled with people and tv coverage all to the state. why, why do you think, what would be his motivation? will cain? >> you've got me. i don't know. you're absolutely right. i mean the rest of the nation should be, you know, up in arms that iowa had so much power in our political process.

>> they do this, though, because iowa is a microcosm of the country, right? it's not exactly representative of the country, and as the country changes it's probably a little bit less representative. but historically it's been a microcosm of the country, and it's been a good indicator of what people across the country -- >> get rid of iowa. >> oh, come on. >> we could just -- >> no! >> come on. >> table -- >> i just heard -- >> and smack him. >> with violence. >> you think one thing about the governor, he's been governor twice. he is really a veteran. he was governor once and now he's the governor again so he's really a veteran of the big buzz in iowa is marco rubio coming a couple days ago. coincidence? >> hmm. >> ahead on "starting point" this morning we're following some breaking news out of israel. bomb explosion on a bus that's hurt at least ten people. what can be done to stop the bloodshed in gaza on the ground? we've got that report live next. medicarerx saver plus plan p

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welcome back, everybody. we're following breaking news. more carnage in the battle between israel and gaza. a bomb exploding on a bus in tel aviv. at least ten people have been injured. it happened right in front of israel's national defense headquarters. the u.n. secretary-general ban ki-moon condemning the bus bombing saying that there are no circumstances that would justify the targeting of civilians. secretary of state hillary clinton now trying to negotiate a cease-fire in gaza. she's already wrapped up talking in ramallah this morning with the palestinian authority leader mahmoud abbas. and also, with the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu in jerusalem. she'll be in cairo later to meet with the egyptian president mohamed mursi. cnn's reza sayah is for us this morning, so let's begin with that meeting. the clinton/mursi meeting. what are the expectations as she heads to that meeting? >> well, i think the expectation

is for these two key players to do something to end the cease-fire. and i think the spotlight now is on u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton in washington. it looked like the u.s. is broadening its role, busy day for mrs. clinton today, meeting with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. the next hour or two, she's going to meet with egyptian officials, including egyptian president mohamed mursi. whenever there's a flare-up in the middle east between the palestinians and the israelis, certainly washington wants to present itself as playing a key role. but the dilemma with washington is that they certainly have sway with israel but they have no relationship with hamas. of course washington views hamas as a terrorist organization, and i think this is where washington, today, secretary clinton, will depend on egypt, that does have a relationship with hamas. of course, hamas was born out of the muslim brotherhood, and that's why, soledad, over the past few days, egypt has emerged

as an important player if there's going to be a cease-fire. >> you know, it was interesting, reza, to hear shimon peres praising mursi. i thought that was -- and he did it a couple times in a very strong praise and it made me feel like mursi has a lot of pressure on him. and maybe in light of this more recent bombing, this, this, this bus explosion, whatever it ends up being that, that blew up the bus, he's got a lot of pressure on him in the position that he is in to try to help negotiate and navigate towards some kind of at least de-escalation, doesn't he? >> it's an unenviable position. and you have to put yourself in his shoes. remember the muslim brotherhood regime that came in promising change from past policy. a policy under the mubarak regime that played the role of idle bystander. they promised to change their policy. they delivered a lot of tough, fiery rhetoric but they have in

many ways tried to play the same role of peacemaker. they still have a relationship with israel. they have explicitly said they're going to honor their peace deal with israel. and of course they have that relationship with hamas. but, so far, they haven't been able to hammer out a cease-fire. yesterday they came out and said they were close. today, seems like violence is escalating but they're still hopeful. >> reza sayah for us this morning. thanks. let's get right to sara sidner in tel aviv where as we were reporting there was a bus explosion happen around noontime in, in tel aviv. tel aviv, of course, is the second largest city in israel, and really known for, for being an economic hub, a home to for example the tel aviv stock exchange, corporate offices, and research and development centers. so clearly this was a, an explosion that has absolutely undermined and terrified some of the people there from some of the reporting we've been hearing that bus explosion happened ten people we're told at least have been injured no deaths reported at this point we continue to

monitor the story. trying to get sara sidner up for us live. we're having some issues with her transmission we'll try to fix that and bring her to you live so she can update us on what's happening there. in the meanwhile let's get to brooke baldwin for an update on other stories making news. police in arizona still have no idea why a man drove his pickup truck the wrong way on a highway. the 78-year-old man was killed instantly when his pickup exploded in a head-on collision with a tour bus. the tractor trailer then tried to avoid the collision and side swiped the bus. nine people on the bus suffered non-li-threatening injuries. a florida death row inmate claims he is the run who killed nicole brown simpson and ronald goldman while o.j. simpson just waited nearby. there's this new documentary called my brother the serial killer. it tells the story of convicted murderer lynn rogers, set to air on the investigation discovery channel tonight. the father of ron goldman is blasting the film's producers.

fred goldman told cnn the overwhelming evidence at the criminal trial proved that one and only one person murdered nicole brown simpson and ronald goldman. that person is o.j. simpson and not glen rogers. the man who made elmo famous has quit sesame street. here he is. puppeteer kevin clash. he has resigned after now a second man accused clash of sexual assault when he was just 15 years old. all of this comes just a week after similar claim was made. then recanted. clash worked as a puppeteer for sesame workshop for 28 years. he says he's leaving with a very heavy heart. cleared of harassment and child endangerment, douglas kennedy the son of late senator robert f. kennedy, acquitted yesterday of twisting a nurse's arm and kicking another one as he tried to leave a suburban new york city hospital with his newborn son. his attorneys argued kennedy wanted to take his son out for, quote/unquote, fresh air, back in january, and that the staff

overreacted. -- never take a newborn out for fresh air, really? >> not something you want to do i suppose. >> glad to see it's all been resolved. >> and now this. this will make you hungry, as we look to thanksgiving a taste of home for thousands of american soldiers serving in afghanistan for the holidays here. this year, the defense logistics agency will deliver to the troops here, we have 60,000 pounds of beef, 20,000 pounds of ham. 45,000 pounds of turkey. mouth watering yet? 28,000 sweet potatoes and 5800 pies. have been delivered overseas. it will make for thanksgiving feast and christmas feasts for more than 200 locations in afghanistan, and maybe this is just a southern gal in me, anyone do marshmallows on the sweet potatoes? >> yeah. >> makes it -- >> yeah, me, too. >> love it. >> and molasses. >> whoa. >> how many calories it will hold. >> still ahead on "starting

point," rupert murdoch is trying to take back apologize for kind of sort of controversial tweet about jews in the media. you know what? stop tweeting about jews in the media. was the apology really an apology? no it was a nonapology apology. straight ahead. i love 'em even me. i earn 1% cash back everywhere, every tim 2% on groceries. 3% on gas. automatica hoops to jump hrough. that's 1% back o.. [ toy robot sounds ] 2% on pumpkin pie. and apple. 3% ba on 4 trips to e airport. it's as easy ... [ woman ] 3. male annocer ] the bankamericard cash rewardca. apply online or at a bank america nr you. >> hi. >> you know, i can save you 15% today if you open up a charge card account with us. >> announcer: we all love a good deal during the holidays, especially identity thieves. they can open an account in your name and go on a serious spending spree. >> do you have cufflinks?

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will comback, everybody. the news corp. ceo rupert murdoch did something amazing on twitter recently. he managed to found soeth anti-semitic and pro-israel in the same 140 characters. he tweeted this first. why is jewish owned press so consistently anti-israel in every crisis? the result was a controversy

almost instantly. howard kurtz is the host of cnn's "reliable sources," washington bureau chief for the daily beast. nice to have you with us. so let's start by showing that tweet. he wrote tweet it again why is jewish owned press so consistently anti-israel in every crisis. and it set off a little bit of a firestorm. what happened? what was the reaction? >> the reaction was that people said this was outrageous. i found it stunningly offensive, soledad. first of all jewish owned press, the old stereotype of jews controlling the media, and then saying anti-israel, somebody needs to keep this guy away from the twitter. >> he loves it, he's always on twitter. >> he does. so are a lot of other powerful people, ceos. i think what they don't realize is that they have a very large audience here. they don't have a pr person saying you really probably shouldn't say that.

they're tweeting in their beds at night or in their studies all by themselves and sending off these missives that otherwise would have been more carefully crafted. >> nobody says no to these people. soledad, it took murdoch two days to apologize, which -- >> well he tweeted, right, his apology? >> that, i wouldn't even consider that an apology because it wasn't clear. >> here's what he tweeted. jewish owned press in quotes now has been sternly criticized suggesting link to jewish reporters. don't see this but apologize unreservedly. >> what does that mean? >> i don't even understand the first part of the sentence. >> i think it means someone told me to apologize. >> here's my nonapology. >> in the beginning part he talks about jewish owned media. that's like, come on, give us something that's not 100 years for thousands of years old and just flat wrong. but, sort of lay out the elephant in the room and talk about it. i think part of the second part talking about anti-israel is that that is where his corporation and specifically talking about the television

network, fox, tries to position itself. tries to position itself as a place where people who are pro-israel go. >> but that's the problem, then, is that -- >> i'm not defending it. >> when murdoch spouts off and these are his personal views and he's 81 and he's the corporate chief and no one's going to tell him not to, it does reflect badly on fox news and in addition to that, the reason that semiapology doesn't work he then had to write a letter to the anti-defamation league to do the full grovel because there was enough heat to make murdoch realize that he had to walk it back. >> he tweeted this, too, can't obama stop his friends in egypt shelling israel? >> i mean, don't you think this is all part of the marketing, though, of fox, and part of, how they get attention, and i mean, you guys follow this. this is your business. i mean it seems to me that this is part of fox marketing. >> no. i think this is part of your kind of crazy uncle, firing off. >> see i think -- >> that's what they want you to think. but i don't think that's what it

is. i think it's very deliberate. >> more machiavellian? >> yes, i do. >> i talk to people who work in the media empire and some were cringing at this like there he goes again. also rupert murdoch presided over the phone hacking scandal and the london tabloid to be giving moral instruction about how the press behaves, a little bit off. >> petraeus resignation, timing, everything, suspicious, there has to be more to the story. i don't follow him but i'm going to start. honestly. >> i thought to myself, we're going to get this guy more followers. >> reminds me of jack welch who treated that the chicago gang meeting was cooking the unemployment numbers. >> who said the election was a sham and a travesty. >> -- call for the march on washington. donald trump? >> armchair billionaires for change. >> martin luther king's march on washington all these years later. >> you know rupert murdoch,

right? what do you think? >> we were together last week. >> i told you guys during the break, it's an interesting conversation. but twitter is its own little world where your personality is developed in a way that's almost completely independent of who you are. i have trouble seeing how do you become -- you can be someone wholly independent on twitter doesn't reflect who you are. that's not an excuse for rupert murdoch. >> it's so wrong -- >> really? >> actually twitter -- >> have you ever met somebody in real life that you follow on twitter and you've never met and said that's not who i thought you were? >> i think people no filter right what you get is the unedited not necessarily polite maybe more real version and that they kind of clean up the real when they know they're going to be held accountable. and i think if you're an executive where you know you know you're, you're, your pr team is going to say you know, not feeling this. now that you've written it down longhand, let's not send that. >> there have actually been studies that talk about this exact trend, how people are more

snarky on twitter than they would be -- >> but that's -- >> i think that really -- >> i think that is the real -- >> it brings out -- >> when you work for a news organization, nothing gets published. nothing gets put on the air without some other set of eyes saying the tone here is off. when you're just sitting there in your bedroom going click, click, click, it said you are seeing the -- >> lifetime of social interaction we develop through face-to-face communication. thousands of years of human interaction and now we -- >> in your underwear and do whatever you want to do -- >> odd relationships -- >> if you are above 70 and you are worth tens of millions of dollars -- >> before you hit send. >> it doesn't matter because these guys can do whatever they want. and no one will tell them no. >> yes, and i think it's totally -- >> i think this is part of a plan. >> a five-page memo? >> i think it's part of a plan to build his following. >> his following isn't very high. 368,000 people. >> it's going to be more after

this. that's for sure, right? >> and -- >> this pile -- >> how much -- >> he's a little bit off his rocker. it's awesome. i like that. >> except when it hurts people. >> yes, but i like it on twitter. >> this is what people like about twitter is the candor that they see. >> yeah. >> but sometimes it's not -- >> reporters have got suspended and lost their jobs over saying inpolitic or insensitive things. so it's a dangerous weapons. >> and when you run the company -- >> kids have also lost scholarships over racist comments after president obama -- >> -- have lost their spot on the team as well. so the takeaway as dana said, if you're not over 70, just count to ten before you hit send. and realize -- >> realize that twitter is really your new hometown newspaper. right? don't tweet anything you wouldn't want on the front page of your hometown newspaper. >> hmm. >> all right. i like that advice. better start doing it. still ahead, just kidding i'm

kidding. still ahead on "starting point" we're going to talk about drones. we'll go behind the scenes to check out some of that technology that has been behind israel's defense. defense. plus deer hunting for bargains. mother deer hits the stores. kind of crazy. back in a moment. i have a cold, and i took nyquil,

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welcome back to "starting point." quick check of some of your top stories, including the new york soccer mom allegedly moonlighting as a million dollar madame is out of jail. anna gristina may now be deported to scotland. she agreed to a six-month

sentence but was released yesterday on time served. those giant balloons featured in the annual macy's thanksgiving day parade get inflated. thousands of people come by the staging area on manhattan's upper west side just to witness the spectacle. among the new balloons this year, papa smuv, elf on a shelf and you have hello kitty. and queue the deer video. just trying to get a jump on black friday deals. there she goes, a doe entered a kohl's department store in iowa through the automatic doors. two fawns waited in the vestibule for their mother. no word on what the deers were looking for. >> did you say deers? >> deer, singular.

for days now, we have been seeing warplanes, rockets and drones crisscrossing the sky over gaza. cnn got a look at the technology behind the drones. you were on vacation and shooting this story. >> i was. i thought this is fascinating technology. we should go take a look and sadly it became newsworthy. drones is becoming a staple of modern day warfare. i visited israel's largest defense manufacturers and got a look at one of the country's most valuable resources. you can often hear the humming, a mind game that's becoming more prevalent. before the booms and the blasts, drones were in the air space over gaza and they'll be there long after the cease fire is reached. >> normally doing patrols over gaza and the west bank, but now they're ubiqutous, hundreds of them are flying around.

>> days before the conflict between israel and hamas broke out, cnn was on the ground looking at drones. we visited the biggest defense manufacturer. iai does $3 billion in sales. of that about a quarter goes to the israel ministry of defense. >> we can see the uv position. >> uavs or unmanned aerial vehicles often referred to as drones are planes without pilots and here they're operated with the click of a mouse. >> sometimes you just need to get footage. this is something that is better to be done by an unmanned capability. >> reporter: some uvas serve as surveillance tools. others can carry weaponry. here is how they work. >> the flying wheel is retractible. and actually just commanding a direction, speed and altitude

and then the uv will follow my commands. >> i want to land or take off, i just need to click. >> a short drive away, a valuable part of the drone is hand crafted. high-tech cameras. >> you see a very small ball. inside there's very very much high technology, including electronics, stabilization, lot of software. >> reporter: that allows the drones to see far away and function as a surveillance tool. >> the main requirement nowadays, if you see a person a few kilometers away and he's holding something, you want to know whether it's a gun or maybe just a stick and he's an innocent civilian. >> reporter: the drones could get smarter, even smaller in the future. cnn money got an inside look at the latest yet to hit the market, a drone the size of a butterfly, aimed to alert soldiers of danger ahead on the ground. >> wow! >> soledad, this is just the

begin i beginning. pilot i spoke to, he said in the next 50 years, we can expect unmanned commercial aircrafts. that means planes without pilots. and it seems pretty high tech right now. many people say, many folks building these uavs say this is the future. >> okay. i'll let them try that out before i hop on a plane unplotted by a human being. and a butterfly drone, that size. the drones of being the size of a small plane, it's hard to be surptitious. people can hear the plane, see them. >> he said something like this. if you look at what's happening now, ground invasion, a soldier could -- the contemplation of a ground invasion. soldier could essentially but the putt this butterfly drone ahead and see if there's any danger ahead. that's the use case we could see for this kind of thing. >> that's amazing. thanks for that. appreciate it.

still ahead on "starting point" breaking developments in the crisis between gaza and israel. possible retaliation for that bus bomb in tel aviv. live with the tel aviv police chief and correspondents on the ground.

rockets fly into gaza. now reports of possible retaliati retaliation. how much will this hurt secretary of state hillary clinton's chances of brokering a cease fire? we'll take a look at that. millions of americans hitting the roads, rails, and sky here ahead of thanksgiving. we'll have an outlook for you on what is really one of the busiest travel days the entire year. overseas violence escalates. what this means for your bottom line just ahead. it's wednesday, november 21st and "starting point" begins

right now. welcome, everybody. we'll update you on that breaking news bus explosion, bus bombing and what might be retaliation for that bombing with a strike, we know, in gaza city. we're getting early word from the bbc. first i want to introduce the team. will cain is with us, columnist for the blaze.com, cnn contributor. dana bash is a senior cnn correspondent, richard socarides, brooke baldwin filling in for john berman, and jamie rubin under president clinton, currently serves as counselor for competitiveness and also international affairs for the new york governor andrew cuomo. nice to have you all with us. that was a mouthful. let's update you on what's happening in gaza.

overnight there was more carnage. bomb exploding in a bus in tel aviv. 10 people injured. i've seen reports as high as 13 people, three of them seriously. mrs. clinton, secretary of state, releasing this statement moments ago, saying this. the united states strongly condemns this terrorist attack and the thouts and prayers are with the victims and people of israel. as i arrive in cairo, i am closely monitoring reports from tel aviv and will stay in close contact with prime minister netanyahu's team. the united states stands ready to provide any assistance that israel requires. now there's word that they may already have retaliated for that bus bomb. it's not yet confirmed. air strikes killed more palestinians in gaza city. the death toll there up to 137. as you can tell by the secretary's mention, she wrapped up talks with the palestinian authority president, mahmoud abbas in the west bank, israeli prime minister in jerusalem and now will head to cairo where

she'll have face-to-face meetings with egyptian president mohamed morsi. >> the goal must be a durable outcome that promotes regional stability and advances the security and legitimate aspirations of israelis and palestinians alike. >> want to begin with reza sayah, live for us in cairo. she mentioned in her comments that she is on her way to have meetings with the egyptian president, morsi, at the same time, offering any assistance that israel might need. tell me a little bit about the positioning and navigating she has to do in her meeting with mr. morsi. >> soledad, we can report to you that, according to the u.s. embassy here, secretary clinton has arrived here in cairo and she's going to be meeting with egyptian president mohamed morsi very soon. with the violence escalating, the spotlight, the pressure is on secretary clinton and

washington. the u.s. seems to be broadening its role. the key role the u.s. is going to play here is with its sway over israel. obviously, israel and washington are best friends. washington has a lot of influence with israel. but the problem is, washington does not have a relationship with hamas. the u.s. sees hamas as a terrorist group, of course. i think that's where egypt could play a significant role here. look for secretary clinton to push egypt, its president, mohamed morsi, to get hamas to make some concessions to possibly hammer out a cease fire. yesterday egyptian officials were optimistic that a cease fire would come. today, it's not the case. all parties here seem to be continuing the push to hammer out some sort of truce while the violence seems to be escalating. >> reza sayah for us in cairo this morning. thank you. appreciate that.

couple of new things to tell you. the white house has a statement now on the bus explosion saying this. the united states condemns today's terrorist attack on a bus in tel aviv. our thoughts and prayers are with those that were injured and the these attacks are outrageous, unshakeable commitment to israel's security, friendship and solidarity with the israeli people. we want to get to sarah -- let me check with you first before we let you go. we're getting word there's been retaliation in the wake of this bus explosion, some reports on the bbc says there's been a massive bombing or, i guess, rockets being launched into the sports stadium in gaza city. so, with all of this, which to me reads as an escalation as the secretary of state is trying to negotiate or navigate with the president in egypt, what kind of a position does this put her in? how much harder is it now in the

wake of this violence and retaliation, if that's what this is? >> i think it is much harder even to do the first step, which is to get some sort of de-escalation, cease fire, whatever you want to call it. prior to this bus bombing israel had begun to feel that it had found a way to prevent these kind of attacks inside israel that come from terrorists themselves. and, secondly, they began to feel that their defense system, air defense system was shooting down rockets. as bad as things were, they were feeling like maybe technology can help deal with this for them. i don't think they're going to feel that way now. i think this is a reminder of how bad it can be in israel, going back to the days when bombs were going off in cafes and buses and malls. >> frequently. >> throughout jerusalem frequently. this is a reminder of that. it will make it that much harder for secretary clinton to convince the israelis and things

need to be de-escalated. again, she said she wants to go beyond just a de-escalation, but a longer term cessation of hostilities. i see that as extremely difficult. neither hamas nor israel will want to give anything up for that. they'll want to make it seem like violence and warfare made their position worse. so that strikes me as a very, very difficult hill to climb. >> what kind of pressure is she going to be able to put on the egyptian president morsi? so that he, in turn, can put pressure on hamas since u.s. does not negotiate with hamas. is that going to be effective? >> well, i don't think we have nearly as much leverage with egypt as we used to have. when it was president mubarak, it was very straightforward. we tended to agree with each other about hamas, about the use of terrorism and the danger to palestinians from these kind of conflicts. remember, the big losers in

these situations are the innocent palestinians to die in gaza. egypt was prepared to say that sort of thing to hamas, to say that palestinians are suffering because of this conflict. however the new government has a completely different perspective. president morsi is part of the muslim brotherhood, long term struggle against israel is part and parcel of their ideology. what's left is that if egypt doesn't play its cards properly, doesn't stay in sync with the rest of the world, it could lose something on the economic side, lose loans or lose support from the world. but when people are dying and the public mood is turning against israel so dramatically, those economic incentives may not be quite as powerful. >> jamie, when we have this conversation moving toward a peace process, we always talk about egypt having influence or leverage over hamas. do they have a lot of influence over hamas right now?

morsi and his run-up to his election gave a lot of strong anti-israeli rhetoric. is there a sense from hamas that he hasn't live d up to that? does he he have hamas' ear like we think he does? >> they have a fairly synchronized world view. we shouldn't, however, exaggerate that hamas is used to being isolated. remember the last time this kind of a situation developed when israel actually invaded gaza, hamas was fully isolated. this time they have the egyptian foreign minister, the turkish foreign minister, the secretary general of the arab league, arab foreign ministers coming to gaza and showing support. so they're feeling more support. >> i'm going to hold you there for a second. i want to get back to sarah sidner, who has the chief inspector of the israeli police with her to talk about this bus explosion and give us the breaking news. what's the latest from where you are? >> reporter: i'm having a little trouble hearing you. i think you just asked me the latest information. let me first tell you where we

are. this is along the route where the bus was about a few hundred yards behind me. the bus was -- blew up. the windows were completely blown out. we now know from hospital officials 22 people have been injured. that includes people on the bus and people outside of the bus. some of them suffering from things like panic attacks. we know one person is seriously injured, in surgery right now. something to do with her shoulder. let me give you the latest on the investigation now. we do have milk mickey rosenfeh the police department. >> at the moment three hours after the explosion in the heart of tel aviv, police are continuing to search around the tel aviv area and neighborhoods for the possibility of a suspect who left the scene. what we confirmed is that there was an explosive device that was put on the bus as a result of that explosion. three people were injured seriously, more than 20 taken to a nearby central hospital here in tel aviv. the investigation and bomb

disposal experts have examined that device. what we know is that at least one person fled the scene, fled the area. we're looking into the possibility if they left by foot or possibly arrived here by vehicle. we didn't have any specific warnings of that explosion or attack this morning here in tel aviv. >> okay. this happened in a very specific area with some very important buildings behind us. we've got the military headquarters just here. is there any indication as to who might have done this and the purpose of this attack? >> the investigation is continuing. a very intensive organization with the different securities working together. what we know is that there was definitely one person who fled the scene. they managed to make their way inside the heart of tel aviv. we're also looking to see if there were any specific orders given to that person either by the hamas or any or terrorist organization entered into the area and different palestinian

areas. just three hours into the investigation after that explosion in tel aviv, that is what we have. >> reporter: this was something that was left on the bus. at some point in time. you're not quite sure when? >> the explosion took place on the bus itself. we know it wasn't carried out by a suicide bomber. that's 100% for sure. bomb disposal experts examined the device itself. it's going to take a bit of time but we're working carefully and cautiously to find out how they arrive at the scene. that's the situation at the moment three hours after. no one was killed here at tel aviv at the moment. >> are you on high alert right now? what is the situation as far as the alert level at this city and around israel? >> since the beginning of the idf, we were not at the highest of levels. since the attack we raised the level of alert here in tel aviv by one level. different units located in and around the city. if we look around now, several

hundred meeters away from where the attack took place, roads have been opened again. we're trying to get things back to normal as quick as possible. our units have continued to work on the scene itself and now continuing on an intelligence level. it's going to take time. they're going to work quickly and cautiously. to prevent any further attacks taking place here in tel aviv or any other cities inside israel. >> reporter: thank you so much. micky rosenfeld giving us the very latest. >> sara sidner, thank you. she and ben wedeman do not even flinch. anderson cooper will dive, but she doesn't even flinch. we'll ask the chief about some of the aftermath of that bomb explosion. of any small business credit card. your boa!

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you're absolutely right. single individuals using small explosives are very difficult to prevent. but i think israel has gotten better. and the putting up of this famous fence along the west bank, increased security measures and importantly, as everybody forgets, the fact that the palestinian authority in the west bank is now much more secure than it used to be, has its own police force working with the israelis to prevent people from going from the west bank into jerusalem and launching these kinds of attacks. israel is safer when it has a relative partner to work with in the palestinian territories. in gaza, it has no partner. it has an enemy. that's why most of the violence is in gaza. >> let's talk about that. when you were in government and dealing with these issues on a day-to-day business, you had the partner or foe, depending on the day, the palestinian authority. that's not the case anymore. so now the united states just -- >> secretary clinton is meeting

with president abbas but why -- >> who doesn't have any power. for people out there who are not as engrained or steeped in these issues, it's complicated. it's always very complicated but harder now. >> you're right. what's new and harder and more complex, the united states is not really dealing with the player that is most important right now, hamas. they're the ones who escalated their use of rockets. they'll have to decide to stop if this violence is going to stop. yes, we can deal with the israelis. we've always been able to deal with the israelis. prior to this time, we had, in the palestinian authority formally you were referring to yasser arafat. he had control over the palestinian. hamas is a new player. we don't have control not only over hamas but we don't have the relationship with egypt we used to have, when we had a single

individu individual, so-called dictator, mubarak, who was very prowestern pro american. we could have a conversation like this with him. now you have along ideological group, hamas, in charge of gaza and an ideaologyical president, morsi, in charge of will egypt. >> ironically, both democratically elected. >> that's true. downside of the arab spring is that in the near term the views of the people are if you take them into account are very, very difficult to deal with. >> dictators sometimes can manage their people in terrible ways, but also just can handle it. and that is both the upside and downside of the uprising, right? >> absolutely. mubarak did have control over his population, he d he he had a pro western view. we had an egyptian leader of the most populous country in the

region against iran, against terrorism and against hamas. so these three crucial goals of the united states were lost in the arab spring. over time, i think with time and with effort and with public diplomacy and with intents efforts by key countries around the world we can hope that the arab people become more in sync with our view and then their popularly elected leaders will be more in sync with our view. >> jamie rubin, we appreciate that. thank you very much. we'll take a short break. when we come back, what could be misery tomorrow, travel tomorrow and today. what is it, like a million people or something are going to travel today alone for thanksgiving? >> i'll be one of them. >> are you? >> i'll be one of them, too. >> we'll take you to some of the busiest spots in the country so you can be depressed by what you're seeing. ...you see they all have something very interesting in common.

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holiday rush is on. you can expect -- here is some good news -- traffic jams in the road and the skies today, tomorrow. everybody is trying to travel for thanksgiving. all the folks who have drawn the short straw today, george howell, live for us at atlanta's international airport, ted

rowlands at chicago o'hare airport. let's begin with you, ted. i'm so sorry. how is it looking? >> reporter: not bad, actually, soledad. the big issue is the fog. you can see it in the background. this fog has really blanketed the midwest. not only here in chicago, but milwaukee, st. louis. other cities are experiencing the fog issues. there's no ground stop here in chicago, which is good. hopefully, there won't be. we're starting to see those initial delays. first flights out of here were fine. airplanes were here overnight. sun has come up. visibility has dropped down. we are seeing some of the delays. look inside here at the delta check-in area. it's not bad at all. the busiest day, a lot of people think it's today. it's actually sunday, when people come back from their thanksgiving vacation. a lot of people have staggered their travel on the outward side of t so far, so good here in chicago. of course, if we see more significant delays here, that will have a ripple effect across the country because chicago, one of the major hubs, of course, in the united states.

let's get more on delta from the delta command center at atlanta's hartsfield airport where george howell is. good morning, george. >> reporter: ted, good morning. for you and i when it kochls to delta check-in or any check-in, it's a matter of getting there on time, making sure we get there early to get on our flights. this is where they take that a step further. this is the operations control center for delta airlines. at any given time some 300 people in this room monitoring a number of things, reservations, delayed flights, making sure passengers get on their connecting flights, watching the weather. good news right now, weather not so bad across the country except for the pacific northwest where there's some rain. that is the pacific northwest being the pacific northwest. they know how to handle that. also look at this. this is really cool. it kind of looks like ants on the ground but it's all of the delta jets in the sky right now. some 5,000 jets flying for delta today, which is typical of a big

day. some 2.4 million people flying delta airlines between now and monday. today being a big day. monday being busy. so this is what we expect to see as this day goes on. soledad? >> george howell for us this morning. appreciate it. got to take a short break. still ahead, bomb explosion on a bus in tel aviv. now the number is 22 people who have been injured. no deaths reported as of yet. we'll talk to the u.s. ambassador michael oren. of any small business credit card! how does this thing work? oh, i like it! [ garth ] sven's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! woo-hoo!!! so that's ten security gators, right? put them on my spark card! why settle for less? testing hot tar... great businesses deserve the most rewards! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet? here's your invoice.

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the heart of 10,000 advisors working with you one-to-one. together for your future. ♪ welcome back. you're watching "starting point." breaking news out of israel this morning. we learned now that the number is 22. 22 people who have been injured when a bomb exploded on a bus in tel aviv. this, as at least 11 palestinians have been killed in gaza, bringing the death toll there to 142, coming to us from the official hamas tv channel. white house condemning the violence in this new statement. these attacks, they say, against innocent israeli civilians are outrageous. the united states will stand with our israeli allies and provide whatever assistance is

necessary to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of this attack. the united states reaffirms our unshakeable commitment to israel's security and our deep friendship and solidarity with the israeli people. sara sid nechner is in tell av >> reporter: just behind me, the street where this bus exploded around noon. and it's in a significant place in central tel aviv. my photographer, dan, will pan over and show you the building. basically, we are right near the military headquarters, just behind this street. and then to the left of me is the court. this happened around noon. 22 people have been injured. some of those people were on the bus, some on the street. some of the injuries range from everything from a panic attack to at least three people are in surgery right now. two that are most severely injure rd teenagers. a lot of concern here. people on the streets were scared, heard the sound. when you looked at the bus, all

of the windows were blown out. it wasn't the kind of large explosion, according to hospital officials who are treating these patients, that they had seen in the '90s, for example this seemed to be a smaller explosion, judging from the injuries that people had. nobody died. although, there are a couple of severe injuries. everyone is expected to survive. in the past, that has not been the case. the bus was driven off instead of having to be towed away. we saw that happen not long after the blast. we also heard from micky roes rosenfeld, the police chief here, who said they have not arrested any suspects. they are still looking for the possibility that someone either brought something on to the bus or that they left something on the bus and then ran away. soledad? >> sara sidner in tel aviv. ambassador to the united states, michael oren, they know

more about the details but not who has perpetrated this. hamas has praised the attack but not taken responsibility. do you believe, in fact, that hamas is responsible for this bus explosion? >> good morning, soledad. we think the bus explosion in tel aviv is the essence of what this whole conflict is about. hamas terrorists and a number of other terrorist groups in israel that can maximize the number of civilians they can kill. that's what they're about, killing civilians. we express deep appreciation for the obama administration and its unshakeable support for israel's right to defend defend itself and israel's security. this is the microcosm of what this conflict is about. we're doing our utmost to minimize civilian casualties on the palestinian side. if palestinian civilians are hurt for us it's a defeat. supporters of hamas were giving out candies in the streets to kids to celebrate the bus

bombing. >> what does all of this have to do with the ongoing negotiations? secretary clinton has said de-escalation. she'll meet twice with prime minister netanyahu. do you think a de-escalation is possible in the wake of this bus explosion and what we've been told according to the bbc, retaliation with a strike in gaza city? >> de-escalation is not going to be possible if hamas doesn't stop shooting at us. the last eight days, 5.5 million israelis, well over half of our entire population, have been under rocket attack. now they're under bus bombing attack. hamas shows no sign of backing down. yesterday they fired over 200 rockets at israelis, killed 200 people. that's not a good sign for de-escalation. we want to stop the fighting, create a situation where hamas cannot shoot at us every month, every week and paralyze half the country. we want to create a situation

where terrorist groups in gaza cannot smug until advanced weaponry from iran. >> where does that stand? we were talking about where there was sort of a hold on any kind of a ground war because of this opportunity to try to leverage this moment, to bring de-escalation. it sounds like you're saying, listen, de-escalation is off the table at this moment. when do you close that window of opportunity and start preparing for some kind of ground war? is that days, a week, a month? >> we are prepared. we've prepared all of the options and we have the right and the duty to defend our citizens by all necessary and legitimate means, including ground operations if hamas does not stop shooting at us. there's no magic formula here, soledad. they just have to stop shooting. if they stop the shooting, if they engage in serious negotiations about ways to prevent another round of fighting, then de-escalation -- >> and if they don't? >> -- will be on the table.

>> and if they don't? >> we'll have to take all necessary and legitimate means to defend ourselves. that's what any country in the world would do if millions of its citizens were under rocket fire. >> and my question is, when would that deadline happen? if in a couple of days there's not some de-escalation on their side, that's it? we move forward with the next step or are you saying that would be a week? is it a solid month? when does that window close? >> i'm not going to divulge national security information, israeli national security information on american television. our troops have been called up, our reservists. they've left their families, their children. minutemen and minutewomen of israel have gone off to defend their country. they are ready to defend their country if the order is given from the democratically elected leaders of israel. we hope not to reach that point. we hope hamas will stop shooting at us, will engage in serious talks about ways to prevent another round of fighting and ways to stop the smuggling of

advanced rockets that are hitting israeli cities. they're not just sitting in some stockpile somewhere. they're hitting israeli cities. to stop those rockets from entering gaza. we'll talk about the battle over the benghazi talking points. what does it mean for susan rice and any chances of her becoming the secretary of state ultimately? we'll chat with texas congressman michael bur gechlt ss straight ahead. maybe new buildings? what about updated equipment? they can help, but recent research shows... ... nothing transforms schools like investing in advanced teacher education. let's build a strong foundation. let's invest in our teachers so they can inspire our students. let's solve this. can i still ship a gift in time for christmas? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift?

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welcome back to "starting point." u.s. stock futures are flat this morning. the price of light sweet crude oil up about 1%, trading at more than $87 a barrel. israel and gaza sit right in the middle of a region that produce and ship millions of barrels of oil. just the hint of that threat often drives up oil prices. saudi arabia is the world's largest oil producer. iran, by the way, is number five. cost for thanksgiving dinner this year, $49.48. that's a turkey dinner for ten with all the fixings, up just 28 cents from last year, according to the survey from the american farm federation. prices fell on sweet potatoes, milk, cranberries and pumpkin pie mix. so much for inflation. your paying about the same today. smart is the new rich quiz.

will cain, new irs numbers show what it takes to be in the 1%. how much money do you have to earn to be in the 1%? >> $250,000. >> no. $370,000 puts you in the top 1%. >> really? >> 370. that's just a little something. >> so certain. >> as you always are. >> i told will there was going to be a quiz and he said can i have the answers? >> says will. >> will, will, will. let's talk about the battle over the talking points of the u.s. consulate attack in benghazi. who knew what, when. what was of the truth, the would whole truth and who told the whole truth, if ever? 97 house republicans standing up against susan rice as a possible candidate for secretary of state because they say she did not tell the truth about benghazi. congressman michael burgess is a republican from the great state of texas, according to will cain. it's great to have you with us,

sir. did you sign this letter? >> good morning, soledad. >> good morning to you, too. are you one of the 97 who signed this letter? >> yes, i am. i've got to tell you that sunday when the four or five interviews occurred, you just knew something wasn't right as you were watching that. first off, why is our ambassador to the united nations on, talking about this in the first place? did we not have anyone available from the state department or from the administration itself? it was a little unsettling to have the ambassador herself out there on the shows. and, you know, frankly i don't understand why you in the media have not been more critical of the fact that your outlets were used in a way to put forward information that, you know, everybody now believes was not correct and we believe it was known that it was not correct at the time it was put out there. that's what's so troubling about this. >> what's so interesting about that -- what we have been trying to do -- we, media in general, figure out, what happens happened? what was the timeline and who did know what, when and who gave

what talking points to whom. what we seem to know now, in fact, it looks as if the intelligence was wrong and that the folks in the intelligence community have said that they gave the talking points to susan rice and they changed those talking points so that she wouldn't talk about al qaeda. she was talking about extremists. so, to me, some of the takeaway seems to be the intelligence community should bear the bulk of the blame. you don't see it that way? why not? >> well, it had to fit within the narrative of the president's campaign at the time that al qaeda was on the run. it was no longer a threat. so, to have put someone out there, saying al qaeda was -- and ansar al sharia was responsible for this, it wouldn't have fit with the narrative that had been really the main topic point since the democratic convention. in my mind, i think that influenced it. >> so let me clarify that. but wasn't that the cia change?

they're the ones who edited the talking points so that it wouldn't say al qaeda and i think they used the word to protect their sources, it would say extremist. they made that edit, which to me again seems to go back to the intelligence community. it's not that susan rice got a long list of talking points and said, ooh, i don't want to say al qaeda. let me cross that out. i'm going to use the word extremist. she was given talking point that is removed that word al qaeda and put extremist. isn't that correct? >> who in the administration said susan rice should be the person out there talking about this in the first place? >> so you just don't like her? >> there was the real time information -- no. the real time information that our consulate was under attack. and i'll tell you what bothers me is that someone in the white house situation room or at the state department or the pentagon said it's not worth it. we can't go in and help them. and to understand how long the attack continued, that's really

troublesome. the fact that the united states cannot respond within an hour's time to an attack like that on its own state department? that's just inkrcredible information to give to the world and if i were a member of the diplomatic core, i would be troubled. >> i'm sure they are. when they talked to general petraeus, they talked about the intelligence. it goes back to the intelligence for me. i have asked others before how this does not compare, the susan rice issue, to the condoleezza rice issue on weapons of mass destruction. she was also wrong when she was the national security adviser, right? she had information and she talked, remember, to wolf blitzer about let's not have the smoking gun become a mushroom cloud. fast forward three years in 2005 when she was up to be secretary of state, it was lindsey graham who was furious that the democrats were pushing back. it was senator john mccain who were furious that the democrats were pushing back on condoleezza

rice to be secretary of state. she was wrong on weapons of mass destruction. how is this different? >> the difference is the scrutiny provided by our free press in this country. condoleezza rice was exposed to withering criticism by the press. i don't see that happening now. maybe i've missed something in the talking points, but i don't see that happening. >> so, let me -- >> the ambassador of the united nations should not have been the person on the sunday shows. >> so you're confusing me there for a moment. when you say the scrutiny on the press -- are you saying five days after comments of weapons of mass destruction, you feel like the media was picking apart condoleezza rice? i don't think that's true, sir. most people say that's not the case. it took a long time. i'm talking about three years before she was up for secretary of state. if you're blaming the press, how does it go back to susan rice? >> different timelines. >> how does it go back to -- >> they're different situations with different timeline. >> how is she to blame is my

question. >> first thing is i do not understand who in the administration thought this would be a good idea and why. what was their reasoning behind that? no one has answered that question. >> okay. i think that's a valid question. how do you blame susan rice for that? >> to discuss this with me. >> what susan rice did was say something that was incorrect. we know now, the intelligence community says we gave her the talking points. the information, the intel was incorrect. how does that go back to blame susan rice? my question is bus you're one of the 97 people who signed saying you believe her misleading statements causes irreparable damage to her credibility and she should not be secretary of state. >> it does damage -- >> i don't see the connection. >> it does damage her credibility. you know as well as i that house members do not get a vote on presidential appointments. but in the purpose of this letter was to let our senators know this is something we believe deserves their scrutiny.

you would want that. >> of course. hey, i'm all about scrutiny. i guess i like consistency, too. you were not calling for more scrutiny and you weren't saying that the fact that condoleezza rice was wrong on weapons of mass destruction was going to damage her credibility as secretary of state. again, mccain and lindsey graham were supporting that. it seems contradictory to me. >> you'll have to take that up with senator mccain and senator graham. >> okay. >> the credibility for susan rice to be our secretary of state has been damaged by this. it may have been damaged by the administration itself. it may have been an error for the administration to put her out there rather than someone from the state department or rather than a campaign spokesperson. what appeared to the great masses out here is that susan rice was put out there to place a story line into the print or into the national media that was, in fact, inconsistent with the facts. and that is something that has

been very difficult to get around. >> i'm completely out of time but i have to throw a quick question to you. we talked to congressman clyburn. he said, listen, it's because she's black and she's a woman that you're doing this, meaning the 97 republicans that signed this. >> that's absolutely false. i don't know where senator -- or representative clyburn gets that, his information. i will tell you he is factually incorrect. >> michael burgess, republican congressman and doctor. joining us from dallas, texas. thank you, sir. appreciate it. >> thank you. got to take a break. we're back in a moment. people really love snapshot from progressive, but don't just listen to me. listen to these happy progressive customers. i plugged in snapshot, and 30 days later, i was saving big on car insurance. with snapshot, i knew what i could save before i switched to progressive. the better i drive, the more i save. i wish our company had something this cool.

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welcome back, everybody. following breaking new this is morning. at least 22 people, that's the number reported, injured this morning when a bomb explode on a bus in tel aviv in front of the military headquarters. white house has condemned that attack as the official hamas tv channel is reporting that at least 11 palestinians have been killed in gaza, which brings the death toll there to 142. right now the secretary of state, hillary clinton, is in cairo with the egyptian president, mohamed morsi. she's trying to broker peace in the region. we're expecting secretary clint sben president morsi to hold a joint news conference from cairo. we'll bring bri that to you live when it happens on cnn. with real advice, for real goals. the us bank wealth management advisor can help you. every step of the way. from big steps, to little steps.

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